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This movie is a magic carpet ride into the world of the Arabian
Nights. It's the 1940 remake of the original Douglas Fairbanks
silent movie that appeared in 1924. It won three Academy Awards,
for art direction, color cinematography, and special effects.
The cast includes Conrad Veidt as the evil usurping grand vizier,
John Justin as the not-too-bright handsome deposed king, Sabu
as the street-smart adventure-loving boy thief, June Duprez as
the beautiful princess of Basra, and Rex Ingram as the magnificent
djinn.
The plot goes something like this: handsome king Ahmad is
deposed by his evil grand vizier Jaffar and thrown into prison,
to be executed the next day. In prison, he meets a boy thief
named Abu whose cleverness enables the two of them to escape,
and they become fast friends. The wizard Jaffar travels to the
neighboring kingdom of Basra and negotiates with its sultan for
the hand of his beloved daughter in marriage. However, Ahmad
and the princess fall in love, and when Ahmad confronts Jaffar
about his throne, Jaffar blinds him and turns Abu into a dog.
I won't reveal any more of the plot because I don't want to
spoil its many twists and turns. Along the way, it serves up
adventure, magic, a feisty djinni, faithful friendship, romance,
laughter, and heartbreak, and offers many lavish visual images
to delight the eyes. The costuming is magnificent and the scenery
wonderful. Abu is clearly the central character, as he rescues
his dim friend Ahmad from various scrapes and helps thwart the
schemes of the evil Jaffar.
The movie is also one of the early Hollywood musicals, but
in the sort of vein where the music serves as background behind
a mood scene. I was disappointed that there were no lavish dance
production numbers, but the movie was made a few years before
that style of musical came into vogue.
The DVD Edition
The DVD edition's features include:
- You can choose between having the dialogue spoken in the
original English, or dubbed in Spanish.
- You can choose to have English subtitles, Spanish subtitles,
or no subtitles at all.
- The original theatrical trailer is included.
- There are bookmarks to about 20 scenes, enabling you to jump
directly to them. This is handled by placing images for 4 scenes
on the screen at once. You can select the one you want, or move
on to another group of four. It's implemented in a way that is
convenient to use.
You Will Probably Like This Video If
- You enjoy the tales of the Arabian nights, full of magic
and fantasy.
- You're an enthusiastic fan of any of the cast members. All
come across well in this movie.
You Probably Won't Care For This Video If
- You're not particularly enthusiastic about the fantasy fiction
genre.
In Conclusion
It's a beautiful movie, which still holds up well 60 years
after it was originally released. The casting and acting are
excellent, the story is magical fantasy with a solid dose of
romance, and the sets are a feast for the eyes. Even half a century
later, some of the special effects are still convincingly well
done, although others admittedly have not endured the test of
time as well.
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